The resignation of Abu Mazen delivered a blow to the U.S. and Israel.
The Israeli government has reacted furiously, deciding "in principle"
to expel Arafat from Palestine. This threat last night brought thousands of
Palestinians onto the streets to rally to his defence. The decision of the
Israeli government could achieve the opposite effect to that desired, provoking an
escalating spiral of bitter confrontation. Yossi Schwartz in Israel analyses the situation.
Only a few days ago the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon seemed to believe that his dream of removing, or even killing, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was going to become true within just a few days. But the US has stopped the Israeli government, for now. A forced removal of Arafat would cause a great destabilization of the region, a thing that US imperialism cannot accept.
Yesterday the Histadrut trade union federation in Israel formally announced a labour dispute in Israel's public sector. At the end of a 15-day "cooling off" period, some 700,000 workers will be legally entitled to take strike action. Our correspondent in Israel analyses the situation and interviews Binyamin Gonen, a longstanding member of the Political Committee of the Communist Party of Israel and is political front DFPE-Hadash. Gonen was for many years also a member of the leadership of the party's faction in the Histadrut.